GETTING HOME, I SLUMP INTO a couch and exhale, tired from the days events. The house is unusually quiet, I guess the kids are asleep. I take off my sneakers and give my feet a light massage, as they hurt a lot.

I walk to the kitchen barefoot, I can hear the pitter-patter of my feet as they heat the cold tiles. After drinking some water, I pick up my shoes - which I had discarded earlier - and my bag, as I make way to our bedroom.

I place my bag on the bed and drop my shoes on the floor, then briskly move to the bathroom, then the closets to check if Eric is there, only to be met with silence. Wasting no time, I move to Alanna's room, then junior's, still no sign of any of them, I check Eric's study, and he's not there either. I run back to our room and search my bag till I find my phone, then I dial Eric's number and it send me straight to voicemail.

I don't know why I feel panicked, but my anxiety is at the highest peak right now. I don't know if it's because of Vivian's threat or what, but I just feel so scared. All traces of tiredness have left me, as I pace the length of the great room worriedly, phone in hand. I try repeatedly to reach Eric, and I still get sent to voicemail, which is weird as Eric always has his phone in hand.

I sit on the couch, lost in my own thoughts on how to best approach this situation with Vivian. I understand how she feels, and now I regret not telling her, because she has missed 4 years of her granddaughter's life and its all my fault,

"Mama!" Alanna Squeals happily, as she runs towards me, her arms wide open.

I snap out of my thoughts in time to catch her in my arms. I hug her tight and bury my nose in the crook of her little neck, and breathe her in.

"Where did you go, baby?" I ask her with tears brimming  my eyes.

"The park! I made a lot of friends - Whitney, Clarabe..." Alanna continues listing the names of the friends she made at the park.

I tune her out, as I turn to look at Eric, who is watching me carefully. I smile at him, then look over at junior who is watching me too. Damn! why are they looking at me like I've been going unnecessarily crazy over their whereabouts... Well, maybe because I have - a little.

"Are you okay?" Junior asks.

"Yes, I am Junior." I say with a smile.

"So why are you crying?"

My hand reaches up to touch my face, and there's a lone tear on my cheek, I wipe it off.

Junior walks closer to me and wraps his arms around my neck in a hug and I hug him back. This little gesture, from this little gentleman warms my heart and all my problems are forgotten.

"Now, I'm jealous of my own son." Eric mumbles to himself, but I hear him.

"Oh, come here, big baby."

He laughs and joins in.

"I want to hug mama too!" Alanna whines.

"Make room for my baby." I coo.

She joins in and next thing I know - I land on the floor, all my babies on me, and I burst into a fit of giggles and they all join in.

The kids run off to play with their toys, leaving Eric and I seated on the floor.

I feel his intense gaze on me.

"What's wrong?"

"I've had a long, long day and my tired is tired! Physically and emotionally, I don't know what to do." I sigh.

"Whatever it is, we will figure it out - together. Okay?" 

I don't say anything, I just keep my gaze on my locked hands on my lap. He puts two fingers under my chin, and tilts my head up.

He looks deep into my eyes,

"Okay?" he asks again.

I nod.

"I love you and I got you, for life."

I feel all anxiety and fear dissipate and I visibly relax.

"Have you had something to eat?"

"With everything that happened today, I didn't remember to." a blush creeps to my cheeks.

He stands to his feet and helps me up too.

"Let's eat out."

I grin.

"I'll go change."

He nods.

I managed to convince Eric, to take us to burger King. I make the orders, two happy meals for the kids. Two cheeseburgers and French fries, one diet coke and one regular coke.

I return to our seat excited with a tray containing the happy meals, Eric sulking behind me with a tray containing our burger.

"You seem really excited." he teases as he places the tray on the table.

"I'm psyched! This feels - so..." I tap my  finger on my chin as I try to think of the best word to express my thoughts.

"Normal." I continue with a wide smile.

"Normal? This isn't normal June."

"This is home. You have no idea"

"I hope I don't regret this."

He scans the rest of the fast food restaurant, and I stifle my laughter.

Eric is not used to eating fast food, or junk food. He's against it, he says its unhealthy and bla bla bla.

There's a family eating beside our table, and their baby is making a fuss. Teenagers on another table at the extreme end talking loudly. An emo couple sucking faces, when the female notices me staring, she gives me the middle finger.

I turn away, just in time to see Eric about to perform an abomination.

"No,you didn't just try to use a fork and a knife to cut through your burger!"

"I'll rather not use my hands, babe." he says, still poking the burger with the knife.

"Well, I won't let you disrespect burger in that manner."

He smirks.

"I thought it was you - how have you been Eric Morgan?" a beautiful woman says.

I didn't even see her walk up to our table.

"Phoebe Reginald?" Eric asks.

I glance at the kids and see them watching the lady with deep frowns on their faces.

"One and only." she says with a wide smile on her face.

Eric stands and they share a brief - side hug.

"Wow, it's been so long... Meet my wife June and our kids, Junior and Alanna." Eric says with glee.

I watch as her smile drops, before it returns.

"Oh, hello." she waves at us.

The kids return to their food, not bothering to return her greeting.

"Hello Phoebe, nice to meet you... Kids the nice lady said hello."

They look at each other, before muttering a dry hello.

I give her an apologetic smile and she smiles back.

"I just wanted to say hi, and nice to see you again Eric."

"Nice to see you too Phoebe."

She waves at us, before turning and walking out of the restaurant.

"She's an old friend back in college... Sorry about the interruption."

"it's fine... I don't think the kids liked her much, any way." I whisper to him.

He shakes his head, then ruffles Junior's hair.

As soon as we were done eating, we headed home. The kids and I sang every song that played on the radio, till we got home. I helped them prepare for bed, before getting a shower myself.

While I'm brushing my hair in front of my vanity mirror, Eric gets out of the shower with a towel hung loosely around his waist, his abs on full display. I gulp and when he looks my way, I quickly dart my eyes to my reflection in the mirror, I see him smirk.

"Let me." he says, as he takes the brush out of my hands and helps me brush through my hair, before braiding it.

"Oh so you know how to braid?... How long have we been married again?"

He shakes his head.

"I'm a man of many talents." he says with a smug smile.

"Yeah right!" I roll my eyes.

He laughs loudly, as he secures the tip with a hair tie.

"I learnt how to by watching videos on YouTube, when Alanna was a year old. I wanted to be able to do, these kind of stuff for her and you, of course. I just never tried to actually braid it before, a few minutes ago. I hope it looks fine."

There's a deep shade of crimson on his cheeks.

"Awwwwn! You're so cute! Thanks baby!" I coo.

He rolls his eyes, then clears his throat.

"Now, tell me what's bothering you."

I sigh.

"Vivian, wants to get custody of Alanna."

He pales.

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